Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Saturday praised Miss Universe Philippines Maxine Medina ahead of the 65th Miss Universe coronation night.

"We convey our most heartfelt felicitations for all the Miss Universe candidates and especially cheer and throw our support for the (Miss) Philippines candidate, Maxine Medina, who deserves all the moral boost she can get for working very hard and giving her best in a competition that promotes goodwill and friendship among nations," Abella said in a statement.

Abella added that he is proud of the 26-year-old candidate for showing "the beauty, warm, hope and dignity of the Filipino."

He expressed gratitude to organizers for choosing the country to hold the pageant.

"We are also grateful for this experience of hosting the pageant, assured and confident that 2016 Miss Universe experience has been joyful and memorable for all the candidates and our foreign guests," Abella said.

Abella also extended an invitation to other candidates to visit the Philippines again.

"We invite them to come back and bring more of their friends to explore the various islands of the Philippines, ready to be astonished of the unexhausted beauty of each one and willing to be moved in every way by the fervent spirit of the Filipino people and so we say, Mabuhay!," he said.

Medina is eyeing a back-to-back wins for the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant as Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015, ends her reign.